Gigaset GS270 Plus Smartphone Review

Notebookcheck.com tests the Gigaset GS270 Plus, a smartphone powered by a MediaTek MT6750 and an ARM Mali-T860 MP2. The 5.2-inch device has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The GS270 Plus is available off contract.

Gigaset currently offers several affordable smartphones with different feature sets. The GS170 and GS270 cost less than 200 Euros (~$233) and are suitable for those who just want the basics. The GS370 Plus is slightly more powerful and priced accordingly at around 300 Euros (~$349). The Gigaset GS270 Plus slots between these price brackets at 250 Euros (~$291).

The GS270 Plus is practically identical to the GS270, the only differences being RAM and internal storage related. The GS270 Plus is equipped with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB eMMC flash memory compared to the 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage found in the GS270. The rest of the connectivity corresponds with the GS270 Plus being a budget smartphone. The 5,000 mAh battery is one of the things for which the Gigaset GS270 series stands out.

We will be comparing the GS270 Plus against the TP-Link Neffos N1, the LG X power 2 and the Nokia 6 (2018). We will also be using the GS270 and the GS370 Plus against which to compare the GS270 Plus to highlight what differences there are between the Gigaset handsets.

The GS270 Plus is available in blue and black. The back of the device is made of plastic and houses the main camera and the fingerprint sensor. The power button and volume rocker sit firmly in their mounts and feel very stable. These are on the right-hand side of the device, with the SIM-card tray located on the top left-hand side.

The GS270 Plus is well crafted with no uneven gaps or rough edges between materials.

There is also an LED indicator on the front of the device for notifications and charging status.

Connectivity

The G270 Plus is powered by a MediaTek MT6750, while graphics are handled by an ARM Mali-T860 MP2. These are complemented by 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. There is a 3.5 mm jack for connecting wired headphones or external speakers at the top of the device and a Micro USB 2.0 port on the bottom.

It is worth noting that the micro USB port is at a slight angle, so the cable looks unnatural when plugged in. This unusual angle should have no impact on daily use if somebody doesn’t try to bend the cable straight. We encountered no such similar behavior with the 3.5 mm jack.

The GS270 Plus has a fingerprint scanner on the back of the device, one which is positioned higher than on many other devices.

The GS270 Plus has dual-SIM functionality and supports up to 128 GB microSD cards. You can only use the dual-SIM functionality at the expense of using a microSD card though. You will need to use only a single SIM if you plan to use a microSD card.

Software

The GS270 Plus ships with Android Nougat 7.0. Our device had Android security patch level October 5, 2017 installed at the time of testing. The software experience is practically stock Android save for a few preinstalled apps. We have included some of these in the second screenshot below. These include apps for a phone carrier, weather, fuel and help among others. The additional preinstalled apps can be uninstalled without issue.

Default home screen

Preinstalled apps

App Drawer with a list of preinstalled Google Apps among others

Quick-settings menu

Internal Storage menu within Settings

Software Info menu within Settings

Communication & GPS

The GS270 Plus supports GSM, UMTS and LTE over many bands. GSM is supported across 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz while the device supports UMTS bands 900 and 2100 MHz. LTE works across 800, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz. Our test device had good network reception where there was coverage throughout our tests. Additionally, the GS270 Plus supports Bluetooth 4.0. There is IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi support. Our test device performed poorly in our Wi-Fi tests. It achieved 60.2 Mbit/s receive and 61.8 Mbit/s transmit in iperf3 Client. This is around 80% slower than the GS270 despite having the same internal hardware. The GS270 Plus performed equally poorly compared with our comparison devices too, finishing second bottom ahead of the LG X power 2.

The GS270 Plus supports A-GPS, GPS and GLONASS, but it performed poorly in our tests. Our test device managed to locate us to an accuracy of eight meters indoors, something which did not improve when outdoors.

The lack of GPS accuracy bore out in our practical GPS test, during which we took the GS270 Plus out on a bike ride with a Garmin Edge 520 and compared their data. The GS270 Plus is accurate over straight stretches but struggles to accurately track us when cornering and in narrow built-up areas. Our test device could not place us on the correct side of the street either. Overall, the GS270 Plus is over 97% accurate to the Garmin Edge 520 in terms of total distance covered. There is just a 0.12 km difference between the two devices in just over 5 km.

GPS Garmin Edge 520: Overview

GPS Garmin Edge 520: Bridge

GPS Garmin Edge 520: Riding through a wooded area

GPS Gigaset GS270 Plus: Overview

GPS Gigaset GS270 Plus: Bridge

GPS Gigaset GS270 Plus: Riding through a wooded area

Telephone Function & Call Quality

Phone app: Starred contacts

Phone app: Dialler

The GS270 Plus uses the Google Phone app, which offers standard functionality for a phone app and has no obvious weaknesses. Call partners are easy to understand but the GS270 Plus has low call volume. This makes it difficult to make calls in loud environments, a drawback for which the speakerphone cannot help to overcome as the speaker is relatively quiet. The best option is to use the included headphones. We would recommend using better ones if you need good call quality as the bundled ones sound poor when making calls outside.

Cameras

Front camera shot

The GS270 Plus has a 13 MP main camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera. The main camera has an f/2.2 aperture, autofocus and an LED flash that sits below the camera. By contrast, the front-facing camera has a fixed focus. Both cameras produce mediocre photos but for different reasons.

The fixed focus lets the front-facing camera down as it is easy for objects to be slightly out of focus and end up looking blurry in photos.

Photos shot with the main camera lack detail, especially in auto mode. Areas of brightness and darkness are poorly defined while photos generally look slightly overexposed. There are settings for various filters, white balance and exposures. These do not noticeably improve camera quality though. Video-recordings have the same drawbacks as photos. Fortunately, image noise and movement-related camera shake are kept to a minimum.

Camera

Camera app: Settings

Camera app: Photography settings

Camera app: Photography settings

Camera app: Videography settings

Camera app: Effects & Filters

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

We then tested the GS270 Plus under controlled lighting conditions to see how it reproduces colors and details. Our test device overexposed all colors except black with ColorChecker Passport, with blacks coming out too dark.

The GS270 Plus captures most of our test chart in detail but struggles with the edges of fine lines and outlines.

Input Devices & Operation

The GS270 Plus uses Google Gboard as its default keyboard. The keyboard works well and is easy to type on regardless of orientation. The display has five-point multitouch, which indicates that the touchscreen is of a lower quality as most modern smartphones support 10-point multitouch instead. This isn’t noticeable in daily use though as the touchscreen worked well at registering inputs correctly.

Keyboard: Portrait

Keyboard: Landscape

Display

Sub-pixel array

The GS270 Plus has a 5.2-inch IPS scratch and dirt-resistant display with a 1920x1080 resolution. Images look sharp and bright thanks to the display’s 476.2 cd/m² average maximum brightness. Only the TP-Link Neffos N1 has a brighter display out of our comparison devices.

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

ℹ

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Screen flickering / PWM not detected

In comparison: 50 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18284 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 2500000) Hz was measured.

Our test device has a competitive contrast ratio and black value of 1,391:1 and 0.35 cd/m², respectively. This puts the GS270 Plus in the middle of our comparison devices, the best of which have up to a 39% better contrast ratio and a 63% lower black value. Overall, the GS270 Plus has a decent display for its price.

CalMAN – Color accuracy

CalMAN – Colorspace

CalMAN – Grayscale

CalMAN – Saturation

Display Response Times

ℹ

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

↔ Response Time Black to White

28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined

↗ ms rise

↘ ms fall

The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers.In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.8 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 59 % of all devices are better.This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (24.8 ms).

↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey

56 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined

↗ ms rise

↘ ms fall

The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.9 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 90 % of all devices are better.This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (39.3 ms).

The GS270 Plus can be used outdoors with the average maximum brightness high enough to see the display in a shady spot. We struggled to use our test device when direct sunlight shined on the display as reflections obscured the screen content.

Using the Gigaset GS270 Plus outdoors

The IPS panel has strong viewing angles with no color or image distortion even at acute angles. Hence, the GS270 Plus is usable even at odd angles.

Viewing angles

Viewing angles

Performance

The GS270 Plus has the same MediaTek MT6750 SoC as the GS270 but is equipped with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. By contrast, the GS270 has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage.

Benchmark results are only marginally improved for the extra 1 GB RAM with the GS270 Plus scoring a maximum of less than 5% more than its sibling. The GS270 matched and even bettered its Plus sibling in some benchmarks. In short, the 50-Euro surcharge (~$58) makes no difference in performance benchmarks.

Browser benchmarks tell a similar story. The GS270 Plus sits in the middle among our comparison devices and hardly differentiates itself from the GS270. Everyday web-browsing is smooth with the only drawback being media content, which our test device takes a little longer to load than we would like.

Internal memory performance is what you may expect from a device at this price point. Read and write speeds are okay and adequate for daily use but are not spectacularly fast. The GS270 Plus has 25 GB of free space out of the box, which can be expanded by up to a 128 GB SD card. The GS270 Plus can format and mount an SD card as internal storage thereby allowing apps to be stored on the card rather than on the internal storage. SD card performance is ok too and is on par with other 32 GB eMMC devices. The GS270 Plus fails to impress against our comparison devices though and has 8% slower SD card transfer speeds than the GS270.

Games

The GS270 struggles to play complex 3D games with noticeably long load times when we attempted to do so. The ARM Mali-T860 MP2 GPU can easily play older and more casual games though. Games like Dead Trigger 2 and Temple Run 2 ran without issue. We only play sequels.

The touchscreen and positional sensor worked well throughout our tests.

Temple Run 2

Dead Trigger 2

Emissions

Temperature

Our test device stays comparatively cool under load, only reaching a maximum of 33.7 °C on the front of the device and 33.9 °C on the rear. We measured the average surface temperature for both sides at 31.9 °C. However, the GS270 Plus is not much cooler at idle and averages 30.3 °C on the front and 29.3 °C on the rear. The maximum idle temperatures are not much higher at 31.6 °C and 29.8 °C, respectively. These idle temperatures are relatively hot, but not in absolute terms.

(+) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 31.9 °C / 89 F, compared to the average of 33 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 33.7 °C / 93 F, compared to the average of 35.4 °C / 96 F, ranging from 22.4 to 51.7 °C for the class Smartphone.(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 33.9 °C / 93 F, compared to the average of 34 °C / 93 F(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.3 °C / 87 F, compared to the device average of 33 °C / 91 F.

Heat-map of the front of the device under load

Heat-map of the rear of the device under load

Speakers

Pink Noise speaker test

The speaker is at the bottom of the rear of the device above an antenna band. The speaker could be easily obscured with a hand, so it is rather poorly located. The speaker is relatively quiet too, with the maximum volume measuring in at under 75 dB(A). Sound quality is lacking and while speech is reasonably clear, music sounds rough and scratchy. The included headphones are louder than the speaker but have equally poor sound quality. Overall, we would recommend using external speakers or headphones for a better listening experience; just not the included ones.

Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)

Gigaset GS270 Plus audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (73.7 dB)Bass 100 - 315 Hz(-) | nearly no bass - on average 26.5% lower than median(+) | bass is linear (6.2% delta to prev. frequency)Mids 400 - 2000 Hz(+) | balanced mids - only 4.6% away from median(+) | mids are linear (6.9% delta to prev. frequency)Highs 2 - 16 kHz(+) | balanced highs - only 2.5% away from median(+) | highs are linear (2.2% delta to prev. frequency)Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (21.2% difference to median)Compared to same class» 23% of all tested devices in this class were better, 11% similar, 66% worse» The best had a delta of 13%, average was 24%, worst was 65%Compared to all devices tested» 50% of all tested devices were better, 9% similar, 42% worse» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 21%, worst was 65%

Nokia 6 2018 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (87.2 dB)Bass 100 - 315 Hz(-) | nearly no bass - on average 29.6% lower than median(±) | linearity of bass is average (7.2% delta to prev. frequency)Mids 400 - 2000 Hz(+) | balanced mids - only 4.4% away from median(±) | linearity of mids is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)Highs 2 - 16 kHz(±) | higher highs - on average 6.9% higher than median(+) | highs are linear (3.2% delta to prev. frequency)Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (23.6% difference to median)Compared to same class» 44% of all tested devices in this class were better, 13% similar, 43% worse» The best had a delta of 13%, average was 24%, worst was 65%Compared to all devices tested» 65% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 27% worse» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 21%, worst was 65%

Battery Life

Power Consumption

The GS270 Plus has decent power consumption that is mostly on par with our comparison devices. We measured an average draw of 3.6 W under load, which maxed out at 4.5 W. The only area of criticism is the minimum consumption at idle. This is much higher than our comparison devices, including the GS270. It is on par with the average minimum power consumption for other MediaTek MT6750 devices though.

Battery Life

The GS270 Plus has a 5,000 mAh battery, which is significantly larger than all our comparison devices except for the GS270. We tested battery runtimes with our practical Wi-Fi test. We run a script that simulates the load required to render websites.

Pros

Cons

Verdict

The Gigaset GS270 Plus is a decent device that fails to stand out from our comparison devices. The device is solid, albeit unspectacular. It does enough to justify its 250-Euro price (~$291) thanks to its solid workmanship, decent display and good battery life. It performed well in our benchmarks but could do more with its battery capacity and camera array.

The Gigaset GS270 Plus is a solid device that should satisfy potential buyers who have low demands from their smartphone. However, there is no clear added value between the GS270 Plus and its non-Plus sibling.

The biggest competition to the GS270 Plus is other Gigaset devices. The GS270 costs 50 Euros (~$58) less than the GS270 Plus and offers practically the same performance and features, just minus 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. Likewise, the GS370 Plus is 50 Euros (~$50) more than the GS270 Plus and offers 64 GB storage, 4 GB RAM, a larger display, dedicated dual-SIM and microSD card slots and a better front-facing camera. Overall, the Gigaset GS270 Plus will struggle to compete against its Gigaset counterparts.

I made my first IT walking attempts on a 386 with 4 MB of RAM. After that followed various PCs and notebooks, which I looked after and repaired in my circle of friends and acquaintances. After an apprenticeship as a telecommunications systems engineer and several years of professional experience, I graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. Today I live out my fascination for IT, technology and mobile devices by writing test reports. In my free time I like to devote myself to vegan cooking and spend time with my family, which includes a whole range of animal roommates.

Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.